\u201cI wrote this on the piano when I was going through a Kate Bush phase. But the Lycra didn\u2019t suit me, so I transcribed it to the guitar.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The audience is still chuckling when they are transported by a song which is the embodiment of love and longing.<\/p>\n His music taps into the emotions that we Scots, in our reticent way, rarely articulate. We need artists like Grant to articulate our common humanity with all its vulnerabilities and frailties. \u201cI\u2019ll Catch You When You Fall\u201d from the album \u201cLittle Death\u201d is particularly moving. Frankly, if this song doesn\u2019t bring a tear to your eye, I consider you dead inside, and beyond help.<\/p>\n Again he lifts the mood as he digresses into tales of his rock and roll days before he became a family man and slightly more restrained. He describes a conversation between his Producer Gary Katz with the legendary drummer Steve Gadd. Gadd, while immensely talented, partook freely of controlled substances, which may or may not have led to some lapses of memory. He describes him listening to a track and exclaiming \u201cHey man, this guy is incredible, who is he?\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s you, ya ****\u201d came the exasperated reply.<\/p>\n Classics such as \u201cWalk the Last Mile\u201d and \u201cJaqueline\u2019s Shoes\u201d delighted the audience. His execution is masterful, every note perfectly pitched.<\/p>\n Grant introduces \u2018My Father\u2019s Coat\u2019 from the album \u2018Strange Flowers\u2019. \u201cIt took about a year to write\u201d he explains. He describes the comment made by esteemed Scottish writer William McIlvanney, who appeared in the video. \u201cJesus, it\u2019s very complex, isn\u2019t it? It\u2019ll never get played on the tranny\u201d. It is indeed deep, dark and disturbing, and admittedly too challenging for many radio stations. This is a song to be admired and respected, while peering into its unsettling depths from a safe distance.<\/p>\n With songs like \u201cHoly Love\u201d from the eponymous album, Grant gives us utterly beautiful, melancholy songs delivered in a voice with such richness, depth and pathos that not even the dourest of scots could fail to be moved.<\/p>\n A personal highlight is \u201cSometimes I want to give up\u201d which is frankly one of the greatest songs ever written. Anywhere. Ever.<\/p>\n This segues seamlessly into \u201cLast Ship on the River\u201d. It plays fast and furious, still as relevant today in Austerity Britain as it ever was.<\/p>\n \u201cI like songs with a built in ambiguity, but sometimes you\u2019ve just got a broken heart and youre trying to make sense of it.\u201d Grant muses. The perfectly formed \u201cSin of Pride\u201d is indeed heart-breaking in its simplicity, a pure and simple melody in the finest Scottish tradition.<\/p>\n His voice is as powerful now as when he was the skinny wee lad in Hipsway, although in fairness he\u2019s still a skinny Glaswegian with the associated banter. Grant performs songs that were classics from the day they were written, which explains their freshness today.<\/p>\n \u201dI really appreciate you coming out. It keeps the songs alive, which is really important to me, because they must still resound with you.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n He ended the set with \u201cWinter\u201d which was simply sublime.<\/p>\n Predictably, the queens Hall audience wasn\u2019t letting him go so easily and raucously summoned him back for an obligatory encore. He chose the evangelical and uplifting \u201cWill the Circle Be Unbroken\u201d to end the evening on a high note.<\/p>\n James Grant will be playing King Tut\u2019s Wah Wah Hut<\/a> in Glasgow on 27\/06\/15<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Images by: New Wave Images UK event photography<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"James](\"http:\/\/www.synergynews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/M1D3521.jpg\")
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Image by: Malcolm McCurrach | New Wave Images UK<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n